Chrysanthemumxc3x97morifolium cultivar Yovanessa.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant, botanically known as Chrysanthemumxc3x97morifolium, commercially known as a garden-type Chrysanthemum and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Yovanessaxe2x80x99.
The new cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Salinas, Calif. and Alva, Fla. The objective of the breeding program is to create new garden-type Chrysanthemum cultivars having inflorescences with desirable inflorescence forms, attractive floret colors and good garden performance.
The new Chrysanthemum originated from a cross made in December, 1999, in Salinas, Calif., of a proprietary Chrysanthemum selection identified as code number 93-L355001, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with the Chrysanthemum cultivar Megan, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 8,756, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Chrysanthemum was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross grown in a controlled environment in Alva, Fla. in November, 2000. The selection of this plant was based on its desirable inflorescence form, attractive ray floret color and good garden performance.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in Alva, Fla. since January, 2001, has shown that the unique features of this new Chrysanthemum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Yovanessa has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Yovanessaxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Yovanessaxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright, mounded and rounded plant habit.
2. Freely branching habit; dense and full plants.
3. Uniform and freely flowering habit.
4. Decorative-type inflorescences.
5. Purple-colored ray florets.
6. Natural season flowering in mid-October in the Northern Hemisphere.
In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Alva, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the female parent, the selection 93-L355001, in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum were larger than plants of the selection 93-L355001.
2. Plant habit of plants of the new Chrysanthemum was more uniform than plant habit of plants of the selection 93-L355001.
3. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered more uniformly than plants of the selection 93-L355001.
4. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered about two weeks later than plants of the selection 93-L355001 when grown under natural season conditions.
5. Ray florets of plants of the new Chrysanthemum were darker in color than ray florets of the selection 93-L355001.
In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Alva, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the male parent, the cultivar Megan, in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum were larger than plants of the cultivar Megan.
2. Plant habit of plants of the new Chrysanthemum was more uniform than plant habit of plants of the cultivar Megan.
3. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum had smaller inflorescences than plants of the cultivar Megan.
4. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered more uniformly than plants of the cultivar Megan.
5. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered about two weeks later than plants of the cultivar Megan when grown under natural season conditions.
6. Ray florets of plants of the new Chrysanthemum were darker in color than ray florets of the cultivar Megan.
Plants of the new Chrysanthemum can be compared to plants of the cultivar Coparo, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Alva, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the cultivar Coparo in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum were larger than plants of the cultivar Coparo.
2. Ray floret color of plants of the new Chrysanthemum did not fade as quickly as ray floret color of plants of the cultivar Coparo.
3. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered about five days earlier than plants of the cultivar Coparo when grown under natural season conditions.